Opportunity Knocks For ICON (ICX) at FIFA World Cup 2018, In Russia

The 2018 Winter Olympics is ongoing in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. This is also the home country of our beloved ICON (ICX) coin. With 92 countries participating and over 2,900 athletes, one can only marvel at the possibilities ICX would have played in the ongoing event.

From secure biometric authentication of participants; to connecting each athlete’s record health records on the blockchain; or even following on each of their training activities; ICON (ICX) would have played a major role in hyper-connecting everyone at the event.

As I write this, I have not heard of any notable real life applications of blockchain, or ICX for that matter, in the ongoing Winter Olympics.

But all is not lost. The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off on the 14th of June this year in Moscow. The beauty of it is that the host country, Russia, has been a bit less stringent on Cryptocurrency regulation. This in turn means that they welcome the idea of using blockchain technology for some of their processes and applications during the World Cup.

This is where ICX comes in with its ecosystem and currency. One can argue that it would be a better bet to go with the Ethereum blockchain in such an event. This is when you consider that Russia is the home to the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin. But I believe ICX is far more superior since it is third generation blockchain technology that improves on Ethereum.

ICON’s vision is to blend or totally eliminate world borders using blockchain technology. The FIFA World Cup also has a similar goal of bringing people from different backgrounds in one event to showcase global unity and love for the game of football or what Americans refer to as soccer. At the event, decentralized applications would be ideal for its success.

To begin with, a good DApp would be a betting platform for the fans of the various football teams who are also inclined to gambling. Picture it this way. A peer-to-peer bet does not need the middle man in the form of a betting company to act as a facilitator of the bet. A DApp will simply lock in the bet and payout to the winner as soon as the game is concluded after 90 minutes. This reduces the need for ridiculous fees and jurisdiction issues when it comes to gambling.

Another application where the ICON network would flourish is when fans want to share their experience at the event with other football fans around the globe who are glued on to their TV sets. Imagine watching the game on the TV and at the same time watching the live broadcast of a fan in your blockchain community, direct from the stands. Imagine the electric atmosphere of watching the match live, being shared with thousands of fans across the globe who are part of that community or country of the fan in attendance. Maybe the fan watching the game live from the stands, can be rewarded for broadcasting using ICX tokens.

A third role that the ICON network can flourish, is with the guarantee of security during the event. ICON (ICX) recently signed a partnership with the Biometrics technology services company known as Roansecure. With such a partnership, players, fans and officials can use their biometrics to gain access to approved spaces in a secure setting. By use of iris scans or even facial recognition, one can avoid incidences of imposters at the event. Such events are usually plagued by rowdy fans.

Other processes that ICON and blockchain can showcase itself at the event are: logistics, payment settlements, hotel bookings and accommodation, ticketing, healthcare and even tracking the movement of known unruly fans from around the world since football is known to get a bit rowdy. The blockchains serving each individual process can then be interlinked using the ICON’s Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP) and become part of the ICON Nexus.

In summary, with the missed opportunity of ICON (ICX) to showcase its blockchain capabilities by hyper-connecting everyone at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June offers a second chance.